"avoir un poil dans la main" meaning in French

See avoir un poil dans la main in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /a.vwa.ʁ‿œ̃ pwal dɑ̃ la mɛ̃/ Audio: Fr-avoir un poil dans la main.ogg
Etymology: Literally, “to have a hair in the hand” (from the idea that the hand is so seldom used that hair has had time to grow in the palm). Etymology templates: {{m-g|to have a hair in the hand}} “to have a hair in the hand”, {{lit|to have a hair in the hand}} Literally, “to have a hair in the hand” Head templates: {{fr-verb}} avoir un poil dans la main
  1. (figuratively, informal) to be bone-idle, to be extremely lazy Tags: figuratively, informal Related terms: ne pas en foutre une
    Sense id: en-avoir_un_poil_dans_la_main-fr-verb-9ILMwNs8 Categories (other): French entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "to have a hair in the hand"
      },
      "expansion": "“to have a hair in the hand”",
      "name": "m-g"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "to have a hair in the hand"
      },
      "expansion": "Literally, “to have a hair in the hand”",
      "name": "lit"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Literally, “to have a hair in the hand” (from the idea that the hand is so seldom used that hair has had time to grow in the palm).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "avoir un poil dans la main",
      "name": "fr-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "French",
  "lang_code": "fr",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "French entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1956, Blaise Cendrars, Une nuit dans la forêt. Chez l'armée anglaise. La banlieue de Paris. Emmène-moi au bout du monde:",
          "text": "Dégourdi, bricoleur, adroit comme un singe, inventif, hardi, insolent, rouspéteur, ne se laissant pas marcher sur les pieds, il eût dû réussir dans la partie, mais voilà, en authentique enfant du faubourg, Émile avait un poil dans la main et, au lieu d’apprendre consciencieusement ce beau métier de machiniste de théâtre, qui est de tradition un métier d’homme libre, quoique se pratiquant en équipe, un travail un peu irrégulier, il est vrai, mais enchanteur parce qu’en dehors du commun, il se rendit rapidement odieux à tous, faisant montre de puériles prétentions d’artiste, d’ambition ridicule [...]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to be bone-idle, to be extremely lazy"
      ],
      "id": "en-avoir_un_poil_dans_la_main-fr-verb-9ILMwNs8",
      "links": [
        [
          "bone-idle",
          "bone-idle"
        ],
        [
          "lazy",
          "lazy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively, informal) to be bone-idle, to be extremely lazy"
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "ne pas en foutre une"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/a.vwa.ʁ‿œ̃ pwal dɑ̃ la mɛ̃/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "Fr-avoir un poil dans la main.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/da/Fr-avoir_un_poil_dans_la_main.ogg/Fr-avoir_un_poil_dans_la_main.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Fr-avoir_un_poil_dans_la_main.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "avoir un poil dans la main"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "to have a hair in the hand"
      },
      "expansion": "“to have a hair in the hand”",
      "name": "m-g"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "to have a hair in the hand"
      },
      "expansion": "Literally, “to have a hair in the hand”",
      "name": "lit"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Literally, “to have a hair in the hand” (from the idea that the hand is so seldom used that hair has had time to grow in the palm).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "avoir un poil dans la main",
      "name": "fr-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "French",
  "lang_code": "fr",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "ne pas en foutre une"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "French entries with incorrect language header",
        "French informal terms",
        "French lemmas",
        "French multiword terms",
        "French terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "French terms with quotations",
        "French verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Requests for translations of French quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1956, Blaise Cendrars, Une nuit dans la forêt. Chez l'armée anglaise. La banlieue de Paris. Emmène-moi au bout du monde:",
          "text": "Dégourdi, bricoleur, adroit comme un singe, inventif, hardi, insolent, rouspéteur, ne se laissant pas marcher sur les pieds, il eût dû réussir dans la partie, mais voilà, en authentique enfant du faubourg, Émile avait un poil dans la main et, au lieu d’apprendre consciencieusement ce beau métier de machiniste de théâtre, qui est de tradition un métier d’homme libre, quoique se pratiquant en équipe, un travail un peu irrégulier, il est vrai, mais enchanteur parce qu’en dehors du commun, il se rendit rapidement odieux à tous, faisant montre de puériles prétentions d’artiste, d’ambition ridicule [...]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to be bone-idle, to be extremely lazy"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bone-idle",
          "bone-idle"
        ],
        [
          "lazy",
          "lazy"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively, informal) to be bone-idle, to be extremely lazy"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/a.vwa.ʁ‿œ̃ pwal dɑ̃ la mɛ̃/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "Fr-avoir un poil dans la main.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/da/Fr-avoir_un_poil_dans_la_main.ogg/Fr-avoir_un_poil_dans_la_main.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Fr-avoir_un_poil_dans_la_main.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "avoir un poil dans la main"
}

Download raw JSONL data for avoir un poil dans la main meaning in French (2.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable French dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-02 using wiktextract (b81b832 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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